Surgical appliance.



C. F. ABERNATHY.

SURGICAL APPLIANCE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 4. 1911.

1,302,751. Patented May 6,1919.

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CHARLES F. ABEBNATHY, OF WEST ASI'IETIILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

SURGICAL APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 6, 1919.

Application filed December 4, 1917. Serial No. 205,381.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, CHARLES F. ABER- NATHY, a citizen of the United States, residing at West Ashev illainthe county of Buncombe and State of- North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Surgical Appliance, of which the following is a specification.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is adapted to be employed for applying tension to a broken leg, and one object of the invention is to provide novel means whereby the sheave across which th leg-pulling cord is stretched, may be held in adjusted positions, vertically, thereby to alter the angle at which the injured leg is disposed with respect to the horizontal.

Another object of the invention is to providea device of the kind mentioned which may be assembled readily with beds of widely different constructions.

It is Within theprovince of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the the foot frame of the bedstead, the device 2, the body being reinforced by a peripheral bead 3 on the forward face of the body 1. Below the seat 2, there is a projecting boss 4: which will be alluded to hereinafter. On the rear face of the body 1, a securing device,

such as a hook 5, is located.

Adj acent its upper end and below the boss at the body 1 is provided with a main longitudinal slot 6 which extends through the body. Guides 7 are attached to the forward face of the body 1 on opposite sides of the main slot 6, the lower ends of'the guides 7 being inclined toward each other to form stops 8. Openings 9 are fashioned in the body 1 on opposite sides of the main slot 6, and in selected pairs of these openings, U bolts 10 and 11 may be mounted, the U bolts 10 and 11 being of different sizes, if desired. Wing nuts 12 are threaded on the forward ends of the U bolts 10 and 11 and cooperate with the forward face of the body 1. Near to its lower end the body is supplied with a longitudinal auxiliary slot 14, in which a holding device, such as a U bolt 15, is mounted for vertical adjustment. The U bolt 15 passes through a plate 16, extending laterally beyond the edges of slot 14k and bearing on the forward face of the body 1 to prevent the U bolt from being drawn through the slot 14. The rearwardly projecting arms of the U bolt 15 pass through a plate 17 spaced from the rear face of the body 1,, there being nuts 18 on the arms of the U bolt, the nuts cooperating with the plate 17 A rider 19 is mounted for vertical adjustment in the guides 7 and bears against the forward face of the body 1 on opposite sides of the main slot 6. The rider 19 includes a tubular forward extension 20 in which a sheave 21 1s journaled for rotation, the sheave extending backwardly into the main slot 6.

A flexible element 22 is attachedto the upper end of the rider 19 and passes across the boss 1 across the upper end of the body 1, the flexible element being received in the notch or seat 2, to prevent a sidewise movement of the flexible element. Therear end of the flexible element 22 is detachably engaged with the hook or securing device 5. At this point it is to be observed that the boss 4 exercises two functions. First it constitutes a stop, limiting the upward movement of the rider 19, the downward movement A thereof being limited by the parts 8: and secondly, the boss 1 serves to thicken the body 1 and to reinforce the body, the forward end of the hook 5 being extended into the boss.

The numeral 23 marks a second flexible element, trained across the sheave 21 on the rider 19, and the rear end 24 of the flexible element being extended through the slot 6 in the body 1. A hanger 25 is attached by means of'a 'hool'r 32, or otherwise, to the lower end of the flexible element 23 and carries removable weights 26 supported on the button 27 attached to the lower end of the hanger; the weights constituting means for applying tension to theflexible element 23.

The numeral 28 marks the foot frame of a bed which, of course, may be variously constructed, theframein the present instance beingshown as comprising a top rail 29 and a bottom ra-ilBL The U bolts 10 engage the top rail 29, and thebottom-rail 31 isbound against the body 1 by means of the plate17 and the U- bolt 15. It is to be observed that the U bolt 15 may be adjusted vertically in slot 14 so as to cooperate with the rail 31, regardless of the height of the rail. The U bolts 10 may also be adjusted Vertically in the openings 9, and the same observation holds true with regard to the U bolt 11, the latter element being adapted to engage bed parts not shown in the particular frame 28 delineated in the drawings. It is of course to be understood that some of the U bolts 15, 10 and 11 may be used, to the exclusion of the others, depending upon the construction of the foot frame of the bed, it being essentialmerely that some suitable means be provided whereby the body 1 is held securely in a vertical position on the foot frame.

The rider 19 may be raised and lowered and may be held in adjusted positions by engaging the flexible element 22 with the hook 5. In this way, the height of the sheave 21 may be regulated and the angle which the leg of the patient assumes with respect to the horizontal may be adjusted.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A deviceforapplying tension to an injured limb, comprising a plate-like body having a restricted slot elongated longitudinally of the body; guides secured to the forward face of the body on opposite sides of the slot; a'rider mounted to reciprocate in the guides; a sheave j ournaled n the rider and received in the slot; a flexible element trained across the sheave and extended through the slot; means for applying tension to the flexible element; and a second flexible element connected at one end to the rider, the flexible element being extended across the upper edge of the body; and means on the rear face of the bodyfor engaging the second flexible element detachably.

2. A device for applying tension to an injured limb, comprising a plate-like body having a restricted slot extended longitudinally of the body; guides secured to the forward face of the body on opposite sides of the slot; a rider mounted to reciprocate in the guides; a sheave journaled on the rider and received in the slot; a flexible element trained across the sheave and extended through the slot; means for applying tension to the flexible element; a boss on the forward face of the body above the guides and constituting a stop for the rider; a holding device on the rear face of the body and extended into the boss; and a second flexible element trained across the upper end of the body and extended across the boss, one end of the second flexible element being detachably engaged with the holding device, the other end of the second flexible element being connected with the rider.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES E. ABERNATHY.

Witnesses:

J. M. BnooKsHIRE, J. J. MAGKEY.

0opies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

